13 Photos
by Kayelee O'Shea
Summary: Adrienne was dead. Everyone knew that. She had committed suicide. There was a smoking gun to prove it. But, could it be possible, that her death, her precious blood, could be on the hands of someone else?
1. Chapter 1

13 Photos

If you're reading this, I'm dead. But, you probably already know that.

I dropped the page to the floor. A gasp escaped my lips. The letter was from Adrienne. The girl next door. She _was_ dead. But, everyone knew that. It had happened a while ago. I stooped down to look at the letter once more. I didn't pick it up, I didn't dare. This had to be a trick.

No, this isn't a trick.

Is ucked in air once more, staring at the rounded letters that covered the page. The writing that could only be discerned as Adrienne Magleby's. No one else had that tell tale curve to their script. But, no one knew it that well. No one but me that is.

If this letter gets to you in time, it should be before my funeral. That is, unless my aunt decides to bury me two days after I died. That would be most anti climactic. Plus, it would ruin my plan.

If you are reading this letter, you have a mission. I am dead, yes, but, do you know how I died. What am I saying? Of course you know how I died. I committed suicide. That much is obvious. And, if you doubted that fact before, it's got to be obvious now. After all, I am sending you a letter telling you so.

There was that humor. Adrienne was a natural comedian. Always making jokes, always _happy_. Her suicide had been such an enormous shock to me when I found out. It made no sense to me, to anyone. Adrienne had been so happy.

What you don't know, is why I did it.

Aren't you wondering why? I would be. Especially if I believed my own charade. Well, reader, you are going to find out. I am going to tell you.

You are going to receive 13 other letters besides this one. Each one, will contain a letter, along with a photo. I ask you, since you are the last one to receive these letters. At least I hope you are. If you aren't, someone messed up the mailing system. I am asking you, Zoey Burke, to tell EVERYONE why I did it. If you get the last of the letters before my funeral, Zoey, I need you to tell everyone. Not that I have a flair for the dramatics or anything.

I laughed at that. Adrienne had been fairly dramatic. She always needed attention. Not needed, she wasn't like that. She just, thrived off of it. She wasn't like your ordinary drama queen. She... she was just different. The fact that she said my name made me flinch. Then these letters were for me. No doubt about that now.

I'm just asking you, master writer, to tell my story. Tell it the way I never could. My photos, my talent, is the only way I have to explain to you why I have left you. They... they tell a story only you could understand. And, me that is. After all, I'm the one telling it.

_Oh, Adrienne,_ I cried in my head, _what have I done? _This is all my fault. If I hadn't... If I could have... IF SHE HAD JUST TOLD ME!! I COULD HAVE HELPED HER. But, she didn't. She didn't tell anyone. I don't think she wanted to tell anyone. She didn't want help. If she did, she could have just walked across the street and asked.

Why was I blaming Adrienne?

That was low. I internally smacked myself for even thinking that.

Someone, or maybe, lots of people were to blame. I would find out soon enough.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, a huge manila envelope came for me in the mail. I looked it over, trying to find who it was from.

There were no stamps, no return address, just Zoey scribbled over the front in what looked like male handwriting. No one else could accomplish that sloppy of handwriting.

I glanced conspicuously and guiltily around me, making sure no one else had found this before me. I slid the envelope under my jacket and went to my room, locking the door and shoving a chair against the nob.

I took a deep breath, pulling out the envelope. I stared at it for the longest time. Just stared at it. I suddenly didn't want to read it. I didn't want to know. What if Adrienne blamed me for her death? What if I knew the people she was blaming? What if I saw them around, just walking around, pretending not to know what was going on?

"Adrienne," I breathed, "This better be good."

I opened the thick envelope, crouching down and dumping it's contents onto the floor.

Several things hit me at once.

One was horror, another disbelief, and the last was nausia. It was a polaroid picture of Adrienne standing in front of my house. She was in a green hoodie with a frog on the front. A present I gave her for her 16th birthday... her last birthday. She was just standing there, not posing, not doing anything. Just standing there, staring sadly into the camera lens.

I collapsed to the floor, my legs sprawling out. Adrienne was at my house. When was she at my house?

I took another deep breath and reached inside the envelope to pull out a stack of notebook paper adorned with the lettering from a type writer. This one wasn't hand written. She had typed it. The next thing I noticed was that these papers were worn, like many people had read them before me.

ZOEY,

I HAVE LIVED ACROSS THE STREET FROM YOU FOR SEVEN YEARS. WE WERE BEST FRIENDS IN SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADE. I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO BE MY BEST FRIEND FOREVER, AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT YOU TOLD ME. WE MADE A PACT ONCE, YOU SAID WE WERE ALWAYS GOING TO BE BEST FRIENDS. ALWAYS, FOREVER.

YOU LIED.

THE NEXT YEAR, THE VERY NEXT YEAR, YOU DISCOVERED SOMEONE NEW. SOMEONE MORE INTERESTING THAN LITTLE OLD BROKEN ADRIENNE. SURE, YOU INCLUDED ME FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS, WE WERE STILL FRIENDS FOR A WHILE. THEN ONE DAY, I WAITED FOR YOU AT LUNCH, WAITED FOR YOU TO COME OUT OF THE BUILDING SO WE COULD GO EAT...

YOU NEVER CAME. I WAITED UNTIL LUNCH WAS OVER, HOPING YOU WERE JUST LATE. BUT I KNEW, I KNEW THAT YOU HAD DITCHED ME, ABONDONED ME FOR SOMEONE NEW, SOMEONE FRESH.

YOU WERE MY BEST FRIEND ZOEY. I NEEDED YOU.

I NEVER GOT ANOTHER BEST FRIEND, YOU LEFT ME FOR A NEW BEST FRIEND AND I DIDN'T GET ONE. THAT DOESN'T SEEM FAIR DOES IT? WELL, IF I'VE COME TO ANY REALIZATIONS LATELY, IT'S THAT LIFE ISN'T FAIR.

BUT TRY TELLING THAT TO 14 YEAR OLD ADRIENNE.

IT WAS THE END OF THE WORLD FOR ME ZOEY, I NEVER RECOVERED. I NEVER TRUSTED ANYONE AGAIN.

IF ANYONE CONTRIBUTED TO MY DEATH, IT WAS YOU...

Tears sprang up in my eyes. I collapsed on my side, in sobs.

I'm sorry Adrienne, I'm sorry, so sorry.


End file.
